


Language of Flowers

by ragewerthers



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Allergies, Angst, Flowers, Gladnis, Ignis needs a hug, M/M, Summer Gladnis Week 2019, They all need a hug, Whump, Whump and fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-01 05:55:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20253250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragewerthers/pseuds/ragewerthers
Summary: Sometimes words can be hard to come by, especially when the world feels like it's falling apart and the future is unclear.Luckily... there's the language of flowers.





	Language of Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> This is for day 3 of Summer Gladnis Week 2019 and I got a bit angsty with this one when I picked 'wildflowers'! It wasn't intended to be this way! But it sort of happened and it also gave me the chance to attempt a mini challenge to myself!
> 
> You can also find me on Tumblr at ragewerthers.tumblr
> 
> Enjoy! :D

With a namesake like Gladiolus, one would assume that the name bearer would have an affinity for flowers. That there was a destined fondness or a given proclivity towards them.

For the sworn Shield of Prince Noctis, nothing could be further from the truth.

As tough and mighty as a person could be, sometimes it was the smallest things that could take them down.

For Gladiolus… it was pollen.

Gods have mercy on the person who met him on a bad pollen day. His sneezes were legendary and more than one person had assumed he’d been verbally torn apart by Cor when they seen his red and watery eyes.

Yet it was all thanks to the flowers.

However, there was something far greater than Gladio’s aversion to flowers.

His love for one particular Adviser.

For awhile now Gladio had noticed a slight change in his partner.

To most Ignis would look exactly the same. Unphased by the outside world and by the responsibilities that he carried with him on a daily basis.

Gladio knew differently.

He could see the slight wear in the way Ignis held himself. In how he wasn’t as talkative as they drove along toward another haven or another stop along their trek to Altissia.

None of them had taken the fall of Insomnia with any sort of grace and everyone handled things in their own way, but… Ignis had seemed to just carry on.

The ever unphased Adviser.

Yet, these last few days fissures had started to appear on the marble facade. Ignis was starting to retreat into his head and Gladio knew that pushing him to face these thoughts and talk about them would only result in the man trying to tuck them away deeper. Most likely to the point where an even bigger fall would happen later down the road.

So… he hatched a plan.

As they stopped at the haven near Wiz’s Chocobo Ranch, Gladio excused himself from the group with the comment of going to check out the surrounding area for danger.

An obvious cover, but one that Ignis simply nodded to without so much as questioning it. Only reaffirming to Gladio that his partner definitely wasn’t himself.

Without further ado he set off on his mission, hoping it would help his hurting partner.

_________________________________

It was a few hours later, Ignis was stood at his camp stove. A pot of water boiling away next to him as he slowly continued to chop up a few vegetables. Yet his mind was completely elsewhere.

Noctis and Prompto had opted to head out to check out a local fishing hole and get some pictures of the surrounding area leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Something he absolutely detested of late.

_ What could I have done to stop what happened? _

_ What am I going to do to ensure nothing else happens? _

_ What if I can’t protect him? _

_ What if I protect them? _

What ifs played over and over in his head, almost completely blocking out the sound of footsteps behind him. It wasn’t until he heard a sniffle that he startled and turned around.

The Shield was stood before him, a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers bundled in his hands and a warm smile on his face.

The smile was slightly marred by the puffy red eyes he now sported as well as the way his nose seemed to be attempting to turn equally as crimson. Yet there he stood, holding onto something that hated him in the hopes it would cheer up someone that he loved.

Ignis was speechless for a moment as he realized the gesture was far greater in scale than at first glance. His eyes roved over the flowers in the bouquet, taking in the variety. 

Marigolds, representing grief over the loss of loved ones.

Asters, representing devotion and faith.

Finally, mixed in were a few daffodils representing new beginnings and eternal life.

Ignis felt a small smile forming over his lips even as a long withheld emotion made his chest feel tight. The flowers saying more than what mere words could and Gladiolus had realized it.

As of late, words were something that alluded the young Adviser. His grief and worries something he couldn’t process. Didn’t  _ want _ to process, but this was Gladio’s way of reaching out.

‘ _ We can grieve for the ones we lost, but don’t lose sight of what we still have. Have faith, Iggy. There are still new beginnings and new horizons to conquer… and I’m right beside you. _ ’

A world of words spoken in a few flowers.

Before Ignis realized it a sob escaped him and Gladio instantly stepped forward, wrapping his arms around his younger partner and letting him fall apart.

_________________________________

That evening, as the other two returned from their adventures, Prompto couldn’t help but to smile at the beautiful bouquet of flowers that now sat in a pitcher on the cooking stand. 

They also noticed a lightness in Ignis that hadn’t been there for awhile now and how his smile seemed a little brighter. If either of them noticed that there were now two sets of red and puffy eyes no one mentioned it. 

Sometimes… words just weren’t needed for there to be an understanding.

Sometimes all you needed was something as simple as the language of flowers.


End file.
